Manyara Ranch IT Lab

Connecting local communities to the World Wide Web

Gallery

Descriptions & Plan

Information accessibility is low in rural communities.

Though computers may be a part of everyday life for many students in Western countries, computers—and the opportunities they present—are rare in many parts of Africa. Those schools that do have computers tend to rely on older models. So, rare is such access to technology that many people have little knowledge of how to use the computer and take advantage of basic word processing and spreadsheet software or the Internet.

An IT lab promises a bright future in Tanzania.

African Wildlife Foundation (through its Classroom Africa initiative), together with the Annenberg Foundation, built a brand-new IT lab in the Manyara Ranch Primary School of rural Tanzania. Over the course of a few months in 2011, a former classroom was converted into a lab with 40 new Internet-accessible computers. In addition to computers, AWF initiated several infrastructure improvements to accommodate the needs of keeping and running high-end technology. And, because most teachers did not know how to operate computers, a two-week training seminar was held to instruct and prepare educators ahead of teaching the students.

Access to information will be critical in coming years if conservation is to continue across the African continent. More informed and educated people gain access to nontraditional careers that don’t rely on unsustainable enterprises. Additionally, if future generations are to compete in the global marketplace, education is essential.

AWF remains committed to connecting Africans to the world, and the Manyara Ranch IT Lab is one of many steps AWF is taking to ensure education and information are available to communities in Africa.

Get Involved

Become a member

Join African Wildlife Foundation as a member for just $25. Your partnership is vital to our mission to protect Africa’s most precious - and imperiled - creatures.

Reason #53 to get involved

With loss of habitat and prey, carnivores—like cheetahs and wild dogs—are hunting community livestock. As a result, farmers are forced to kill these species. African Wildlife Foundation needs support training scouts and funding bomas to protect livestock as well as negotiating buffer zones for wildlife.

Reason #21 to get involved

African Wildlife Foundation is devoted entirely to, and ever-present in, African wildlife conservation and sustainable development—recognizing and responding to critical threats in a multifaceted way. Help all of Africa, the wildlife, the communities, and the future.